


Ghosts

by HostisHumaniGeneris



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Curses, Gen, Ghosts, Trick or Treat 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-12 23:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21234101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HostisHumaniGeneris/pseuds/HostisHumaniGeneris
Summary: Dark things were happening at Cosmo Canyon.  Maybe the death of Weapon so close to town had done it, or maybe the restless spirits underneath were stirring.  Without his grandfather's guidance, he was left to face it, to protect his people and his home,alone.And to make matters worse,sheshowed up.





	Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Filigranka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Filigranka/gifts).

He sat on his haunches, staring at the metal door, heart pounding. There’d been_ strange _occurrences in the canyon in the recent months, a rash of bad dreams, slight tremors, the flame of the Cosmo Candle flickering and weakening. He’d been the first to notice, the first to dream. He could imagine it was simply due to how sharp his senses were compared to the other people of the canyon. Maybe it was more, personal than that.

Either way, something was happening in the canyon, bit by bit. He had thoughts. Perhaps when AVALANCHE had killed Weapon close by the canyon, something, remnants of the lifestream used to create it, leached into the ground here, infected it—the Weapons were meant to guard the planet, but who knew what the effects of one’s death would be?

That was a theory. One he was poorly equipped to deal with. The other, which he was better to deal with, was that the restless spirits of the GI were stirring again. It had been _decades _between when his parents laid down their lives to defeat the Gi and when they last manifested—and even then, they only attacked when he ventured into that cave. How could they be affecting the rest of the canyon? Maybe the two theories were linked—the destruction of the Weapon had done _something _effecting the Lifestream in the Canyon; the Gi, who refused to return to the Lifestream after death, grew stronger. It was only a theory, but he’d done little but think on it.

He wished Grandfather was hear to ask advice, to try and figure things out.

Hairs stood on end as he took a deep breath. The last fight had been incredibly harrowing. He was not eager to venture into the caves again to investigate. He liked to think he was steeling himself for an epic confrontation, but part of him was gripping the back of his mind, saying _you can’t win_.

Shouts from behind jolted him out of his reverie, provided a welcome distraction. He wheeled around and caught a glimpse of a figure running from the materia shop, down the path towards the town square. He bounded after the figure, ignoring a sense of familiarity as he easily kept pace with her… definitely a her. Muscles tensing he let out a snarl and leapt.

As he pounced, the thief turned around, eyes wide. They landed on the dirt, him pinning her shoulders to the ground with his forepaws. 

“Oh, hey Red! Uh… long time no see?” The young woman said, nervous grin on her face.

Nanaki’s good eye narrowed. He stood up and backed away slightly. The gathering crowd had formed a circle, and the girl from Wutai was not going to get away. She was here, now.

Cosmo Canyon was under a most unusual and terrible curse.

“You want to see if there’s any materia to steal, don’t you.” Nanaki asked, emphasizing his point with a growl.

“I was going to pay for it!” Yuffie protested, unconvincingly. Nanaki shot a glance at the shopekeeper, breathing hard and angrily holding out a hand. “Hey, isn’t he in charge? We’re old friends, so everything’s okay.”

She shot a glance at Nanaki, then back to the shopkeeper, slumped, and let out a defeated sigh. “Alright, alright.”

Three glowing blue spheres were handed over, and the shopkeeper held out his hand again. She shrugged, and Nanaki let out an exasperated “Yuffie…”

“Okay, okay.” She said, indignant that she was being asked to hand over her rightfully stolen wares back to their original owner. He remembered Wutai _very _well.

The crowd dispersed, and Nanaki grudgingly explained that yes, he did _know _Yuffie. Were they friends? Yes, sure, of a sort. And then as he trotted back to the Gate of Naught, she bounded after him, agitated. He was more comfortable around humans than his own species, his interactions with others so rare since the Gi. He liked to think in those decades he had a fairly good read on people.

Yuffie was a mystery. A loud, brash, annoying mystery.

“So… I swear I thought you were wandering the Earth or something.” She said apologetically.

“Trying to rob people in my home is okay if I’m not in?” He asked, letting an edge creep into his voice. She was sorry that her attempted theft failed, not that she had attempted theft.

She shrugged. 

He stared at the gate. He had been steeling himself to open it and revisit the Cave of the Gi, had he not.

She sat on the floor next to him.

He tensed

“So… what are you doing?” she asked.

“Preparing for a confrontation” He growled, and when she looked confused, he gave her the short version. Odd things were happening in Cosmo Canyon, and he was concerned it might have to do with the restless spectres of the Gi, perhaps growing in power.

“Ah. With those ghosts we beat up?”

He sighed. She had been there with him, hadn’t she? His head bobbed up and down.

“So… why don’t we just go in and beat them up again?” She asked. She leaned in close, a wicked grin on her face. “Scaaared of the ghosts? I can come with you, if you want.”

He growled angrily. These things had killed his father. The whole group had barely managed to best them when guided by his grandfather, and now he was gone and it was up to him to do this alone. “And you’re not?” 

“Course not.” Yuffie said, with a nonchalance that was driving him insane. “We beat them last time, didn’t we? If I recall, you killed the big one, too.”

“The Gi Nataak, yes.”

“Well… we’re stronger now than we were then, by a lot.” She said with a smile. “Did a little thinking and the ghosts should not like healing magic, right?”

He remembered reading that in one of Grandfather’s books. Restless undead were undone by restorative magic. That was not surprising in the slightest. He had not been thinking of that—these nightmares, having to keep watch over the city, he’d not been thinking of anything but a head to head confrontation. “Yes.”

“Way I figure it, you _could _go down their by yourself and bravely face whatever lays in wait… or you could just ask a friend of yours for help.” He looked at her again. A flick of her wrist, and three green materia were on the palm of her hand. “And your friend might’ve picked up some healing materia in Nibelheim. And maybe…”

“The friend could get some materia out of this?” Nanaki asked, completing her sentence. He nodded. “I… I have not been thinking clearly on this. Thank you.”

“You know, I’m thinking they might be stronger than they were.” He said, as the metal door creaked open.

“Maybe they are.” Yuffie said. She was silent for a little, before adding “Hey Red?”

“Yes?”

“Betcha I can beat more ghosts than you can!” With that she broke into a full-tilt sprint into the caves. Skidding to a halt, she wheeled around and added. “And when I win, you owe me something more than what the guy at the shop sells! Mystify and transform? C’mon”

Well, he hadn’t agreed, but she made the bet, which meant she was going to hold him to it. Having someone else, even her, to run headlong into the caves dispelled some of those fears writhing in his heart; there’d be someone else to bear the dangers, and as… eccentric as she was, she was terrific in a fight. Still… she was going to be a pain if she won that wager…

He bounded after her.

**Author's Note:**

> To the requestor, I hope this little snippet was alright for you--you gave so many options with your requested tags I just picked the first idea that struck.


End file.
